I am doing a big local Craft Fair in May, I paid £65 for the table. I felt it was a bit steep, but the organisers promote the event well and it is usually well attended. So fingers crossed I will make some money, but I will also use it as advertising for my online shops giving out lots of business cards.
Hi Kraftybuttons -
Most craft fairs these days expect you to have public liability insurance & I too realised I would need cover when I started looking at craft fair booking forms for this summer. It was sorted quickly & easily, though, through membership to AIR: www.a-n.co.uk/join_in/article/663847#air - this is by far the cheapest I’ve found at £36 and includes both Product & Public Liability. As soon as I had made the payment online, I had immediate access to all the relevant documents in downloadable PDFs. The only potential hitch is that you need to be able to meet at least 3 of their membership criteria in order to join: www.a-n.co.uk/join_in/article/752907
Other alternatives include the CMTIA (Combined Marlet Traders Isurance Association) at £48 - cmtia.co.uk/insurance-cover/, and I know a lot of people are happy with the specific Craft Insurance offered by Ian Wallace for £71: www.craftinsurance.co.uk/ (this includes cover for online sales, but excludes USA & Canada which is quite common)
It is worth checking with the organisers of individual events, as one person I spoke to before sorting out my cover did say that a waiver could instead be signed on the day, if I was only planning to do one or two events.
I’m really not an expert on this subject, so if anyone else has experience please wade in! 
Haley, I agree. I think a great part of doing craft fairs is just connecting with other people - other crafters as well as customers. If you treat the fair as a marketing exercise, talk to as many people as possible, make sure anyone who visits your stall leaves with at least a smile, a flyer or business card and/or knows where to find you online or at future events, breaking even on the day isn’t necessarily the be-all & end-all.
As a buyer, I know I like to have time to think about things rather than make a snap decision in the moment. It may be that someone you’ve chatted to on the day comes back later & spends a fortune or becomes a regular customer - but they would never have known about you if you hadn’t attended that event. We have a built in market here online, but there are more people out there, and sometimes it pays to take a slightly different approach & reach out to a slightly different cross-section of (potential) customers.
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Thank you for reassuring me that I have made the right decision.
I will try to aim for a smile and a business card for everyone leaving my table.
Thanks again.
I love going to craft fairs but it is hard work to sell. I prefer events with natural footfall (town centres, markets etc.) as I find it harder if people have paid to get in. Even quiet fairs sometimes result in a few online sales in the following week if people have seen your items but didn’t want to spend just then. I think it is important to get out and be seen. Talking to other stall holders is great for getting feedback about other events. Price for tables? Tough one but usually not more than £30.
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I think carefully about paying more than £20 / £25 but will pay more for established events that are known to have good attendance. I think @Take2Bottles point about natural footfall is very true - my best events have been in shopping centres and markets in busy areas, particularly when close to events such as Christmas and Mother’s Day. I’m happy to pay more for these. Distance from home has to be taken into account as you are doing - petrol costs can really add a lot to the cost of an event.
I’ve also had some great school events costing around £10 and a raffle prize - and they usually only last 2 or 3 hours, although of course you still have setting up time to consider.
All events can have spin-offs such as later on line sales. I’ve also had jewellery party bookings, shop display opportunities and invitations to other fairs from having stalls at events. Plus they are great for chatting to other stallholders and sharing information about other events, display ideas and equipment and I’ve made some great friends through meeting them at craft fairs.
I guess I’m saying don’t measure the success of a craft fair just by sales made on the day.
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I have insurance for craft fairs through Direct Line it cost me about £53 a year and I pay by monthly instalments, I looked into the one from AIR but didn’t meet their criteria (I think it’s mainly aimed at artists rather than crafters)
Hi Haley
I’ll be at the same event as you. It’ll be my first time with the organiser, and my second event this year. I have to admit to being a bit nervous as it’s a chunk of money and it’s an hours drive south to get there, but having tried other fairs last year I barely broke even. So I’ll be interested to gauge how this event weighs up and whether it’s worth doing the more expensive, well situated, events. I’m also like you treating it as an advertising/marketing event too.
The event is usually well organised and well attended, so I have been told and from photos I have seen. It is nerve wracking to spend a chunk of money on a table, esp as my items are small and fairly low priced. I am busy trying to make slightly larger more expensive items, but I keep going back to my little bits and bobs!
It will be good to see a fellow folksy seller at the fair, come and I will try and say hello if time permits. How did you know what event I was talking about?
I guessed with the fee and date! Then popped onto your shop and saw you lived in Tonbridge, Kent, just down the road from the venue really.
I’m hoping it will be a fab day; your items are gorgeous, kitsch and cute and sure to do well! I love the birds and the hanging one with the red heart might be finding a new home with me on the 10th if you bring it! It kind of goes with my logo LOL!
Thank you I did take a look at AIR and thought the sane will take a look at direct line x
@JOYSofGLASS and @HandmadeByDiane
Joy and Dee, I would love to do craft fairs further afield and might start doing that once my little ones are a bit bigger. Little Erin turned 7 months at the beginning of the month and my eldest is 10 next month. Where does the time go?
I was wondering. Do any of you do or have ever done one of those huge craft events, usually in a marquee at a local country house etc? I was thinking about getting involved in one and would love some insider feedback on how they run and if they are worth the money?
Jacqueline x
I have been invited to a couple but haven’t done them - as the table fee was too high. One, local small stately home phoned and invited me and it sounded great until I thought to ask the price.
£75 is just too much. I would need to sell an awful lot more than I would expect to sell (if you see what I mean) to make it worth my while.
I Have done a couple of bigger events under the auspices of the WI where I pay 10% of my takings which suits me absolutely fine. If they all offered that deal I would say yes.
I do do 4 events a year via the Country Markets at WI Staffordshire events and again I pay 10%.of sales value.The WI ladies all know me now, come looking for me for special presents and I have a really good time and often take orders for the next event.
Your WI events sound great! I was asked once to have a table at the summer fete in our village, organised by the main church here. The lady organising it didn’t know how much a table was etc. She couldn’t answer any questions. I then asked if she wanted a percentage sales donation instead of a fixed table fee. She said she would - 100% of my takings for the day! I was stunned and when I tried - politely - to explain that there was no way I could afford to do that, she got all huffy, muttering about how much the church needs to raise funds etc and put the phone down on me! Needless to say, I didn’t have a table at the event and have refused further invitations. I don’t think people understand that crafting can be an expensive pass time!
Jacqueline x
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Over the last three years I have done all sorts of price range fairs and markets. When I first started I did the £10 craft fairs and sold maybe between £10 and £100. I now avoid a lot (not all!) of these as unfortunately at some of them the quality of goods or the pricing it is sold is not comparable to what I feel I make and sell and I was getting a lot of comments on my pricing. Initially I found it very disheartening as if these people had their way I would be giving stuff away! You MUST have confidence in your product and pricing. These were obviously not the places for my products. I then ‘upped my game’ and started trying those in the £20-30 price range bearing in mind the location and potential footfall. Also I found it absolutely vital to ask the organisers if they have done any previously and about advertising and marketing of the event. It is still hit and miss and I have flogged a few dead horses along the way! I am now concentrating on a regular market, online sales and a few larger (£100-£300) events. All this takes research and some luck but hopefully will pay off… The target is always that the cost of the stall should equate to 10% of the takings! I think if you have an idea of your target market and find out as much about the event as you can it helps… one day even I might get it right!! :- ) Sorry for the waffle - new to forums and I can go on for ages!!!
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Absolutely right on what you say about it not being just about the sales on the day - some fairs I have done which have had pretty poor sales redeem themselves after with orders, shop enquiries, Facebook/Folksy likes/sales and getting info on other events. I need to convince my other half that is the case - he only sees ‘sales’ as the measuring tool!!!
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Wow 100% that’s very cheeky, I’m not surprised you turned her down!
I couldn’t believe it when she asked for all my takings! I don’t think she understood that making jewellery costs money!
Oh my word! thats hilarious - do keep smiling…that has really made me chuckle.
100% … giggle.
The most we have given in as a % is 25%.
S
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Good grief Jacqueline! What a thought!
I don’t do many fairs now, just local things about £13-14, but I save up all my hand sewing and view it as a day to work solidly without kids and see sales as a bonus, but I only do about 6 a year. The christmas ones do well, usually I take about £150 at xmas.
My best one was an outdoor Xmas market which we had in Whitby with stall holders having a beach hut each. I sold out of xmas stuff and took loads of orders from it, I also now have regular orders from a local shop as result of that one - goos result for me there!
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